Multiple regions of Ukraine, including its capital, faced a massive Russian missile attack Thursday in the biggest wave of strikes in weeks targeting national infrastructure. Air raid sirens rang out across the country. Ukraine's military said 69 missiles were launched and air defenses intercepted 54 of them, the BBC reports. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, earlier said Russia launched over 120 missiles. Russia dispatched explosive drones to selected regions overnight before broadening the barrage with "air and sea-based cruise missiles launched from strategic aircraft and ships" in the morning, the Ukrainian air force reported. The widespread attack was the latest in a series of Russian strikes targeting vital infrastructure across Ukraine, the AP reports.
Moscow has launched such attacks on a weekly basis since October as its ground forces got bogged down and even lost ground. Podolyak said Russia was aiming to "destroy critical infrastructure and kill civilians en masse." After earlier attacks, the Ukrainian military reported shooting down incoming Russian missiles and explosive drones, but some still reached their targets, damaging power and water supplies and increasing the suffering of the population amid freezing temperatures. On Thursday, air defense systems were activated in the capital, Kyiv, to fend off the ongoing missile attack, according to the regional administration. Sounds of explosions were heard in the city. At least three people were wounded and hospitalized, including a 14-year-old girl, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Klitschko warned of power outages in the capital, asking people to stockpile water and to charge their electronic devices. Numerous explosions also took place in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine and in the city of Lviv near the border with Poland, according to their mayors. About 90% of Lviv was without electricity, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian authorities in several regions said some incoming Russian missiles were intercepted. The governor of southern Ukraine's Mykolaiv province, Vitaliy Kim, said five missiles were shot down over the Black Sea. Earlier this month, the United States agreed to give a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine to boost the country’s defense. The US and other allies also pledged to provide energy-related equipment to help Ukraine withstand the attacks on its infrastructure.
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